Heating device for railway switches



May 15, 1934. E. R. PACKER HEATING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY SWITCHES FiledDec. 19, 1950 Patented May 15, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,95a1o7HEATING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY swI'ronEs Eben Ray Packer, New Rochelle, N.Y. Application December 19, 1930, Serial No. 503,423 is Claims. (Cl.219-19) This invention relates to the protection of railway switchesfrom interruption to their proper operation by the accumulation of snowand ice under winter weather conditions and consists of improvedelectrical heating devices and installation thereof adapted forobtaining a high degree of heating ef ficiency with a minimum of currentconsumption.

An important object of the present invention is to more successfullyemploy a simplified and relatively economical type of electric heatingdevice or member which structurally allows of permanent installationwithout interference with track maintenance operations. To this end Ihave designed an improved heating member adapted to be secured to therail web in position underlying the rail head and having structuralprovision for the concentration of the heat at the region of the switchor slide plates so as to 20 obtain a more effective distribution of theheat where most required. For this purpose I employ I a tubular type ofheating member having enclosed therein a resistance wire of a specialform and arrangement as distinguished from the continuous coil ofsimilar type heating devices or members now in use and which resulted inan excessive current consumption for the beneficial heating effectobtained. a

In my improved form the resistance wire within the tubular heatingmember is of a form providing a plurality of heating coil sections inspaced relation and conforming to the normal tie spacing of switchinstallations so as to concentrate the heat generated immediatelyadjacent to each tie whereby a greater ratio of heat conduction to theswitch slide plates is obtained and in consequence greater protectionagainst interruption to proper switching operation is given inproportion to the heat generated and which conversely allows ofeffectually operating with reduced current consumption.

A further important feature consists in providing an improved form ofresistance heating member adapted to be economically manufac-y switchinstallation having my improved heating members incorporated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of an improved resistance heatingmember of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view in vertical cross section showing my improvedheating members in an approved manner of installation;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view in side elevation of my improved heatingmembers connected up in double arrangement;

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a portion of the switch installationhaving my improved heaters incorporated therewith in a modified form andarrangement;

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of a heating member of modified formas shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the heating member as initiallyformed;

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the manner in which my improved heatingmember is deformed to increase the heat conduction to the rail;

Fig. 9 shows in cross section a desirably modifiedform of the heatingmember wherein a plurality of parallel conductor wires and resistanceheating elements are contained within a single heating member or tube;

Fig. 10 is a partial view thereof in side elevation, and

Fig. 11 is a view of the resistance element of Figs. 9 and 10 in sideelevation.

My improved heating elements are here shown in conjunction with theusual type of railway switch installations, including the ties 1, slide'plates 2, of usual form spiked to the ties and having inwardly extendedslideway extensions 3 providing a slideway bearing for the movableswitch point 4 operated by connecting rod 5 from a switch stand in theusual manner. At 6 is indicated the track or running rail bearing uponthe slide plates in the customary manner. In accordance with the presentinvention the improved heating members are secured in position againstthe inner side of the web of the track or running rail and are of asmall cross sectional size so as to be received between the switch pointand the rail without interference with the former when in closedposition. These heating members are shown at a and are formed ofelongated metal tubing 7 which may initially be of circular crosssection and within which is positioned to extend therethrough anelectric conductor 8 with a packing of powdered magnesia interposedbetween the wire andthe irmer wall of the tube for electric insulation.

In accordance with the present invention the conductor 8 is formed atspaced intervals with resistance heating elements here shown as coils 9formed in the conductor of continuous resistance wire. These resistanceelements or coils 9 are spaced apart proportionate to the distance ofnormal tie spacing of a switch installation to provide when installedfor the positioning of the heating coils in centered position withrelation to the respective ties and slide plates thereon.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the heating members a of my improvedconstruction may desirably be of the length corresponding to the lengthof the area to be heated, that is, each heating member is formed as acontinuous tube extending the full length of the switch area to beheated, and as best shown in Fig. 3, two of the heating members may beemployed in superimposed relation and clamped in position against therail web by means of suitable bracket members 10 having a threaded shank11 passed through an aperture in the rail web and secured by clampingnuts 12. The end portions on each of the tubular heating members areclosed by suitable insulating blocks 14 through which the resistance orconductor wire is outwardly extended for terminal connection withsuitable wire leads and the blocks 14 are secured in position by meansof metal caps 16 threaded on to the' end of the tubes.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the tubularsheathing of the heating members may be initially formed of circularcross section, as shown in Fig. 7 and as a final operation it isflattened, as by pressure rolling, on one side to obtain an enlargedflattened area adapted for close contact with the face of the rail websoas to obtain the maximum of heat conduction to the rail. As shown inFigure 3, two of the heating members are clamped against the rail webwith their flattened sides in contact therewith and with the heatingmembers connected at one end to the respective circuit leads andconnected at their opposite end, as shown in Figure 4, by means of abridging conductor or connecting wire 16 for connecting the two membersin an electrical series arrangement.

The described improved construction of heating members of the simpletubular type shown, allows of permanent-heater installation whileobtaining the important advantages and economies incident to localizingthe heat generation immediately at the positions of the slide plateswhereby for the given amount of heat generated, a greater portion orratio thereof is conducted to the plates from the track rail with theresult that the slide plates may be maintained at an effectiveprotecting heat without excessive current consumption.

In Figures 5 and 6 I have shown a desirable modification of my improvedheater construction containing a plurality of resistance heatingelements spaced with relation to the ties but wherein the individualheating members are formed to be each of a length proportioned to takecare of two tie plates and wherein they are installed as similarcapacity units in such number and series arrangement as required for theparticular installation and voltage of the circuit available. Thisarrangement oflers a desirable and economical standardization from thestandpoint of manufacture.

In Figures 9 to 11 I have shown a further desirable modificationwherein, as shown, two parallel conductors, formed in accordance with myinvention with longitudinally spaced resistance heating elements, arepositioned within a single enclosing tube or sheathing with theresistance heating elements thereof in similarly disposed spacedrelation to correspond in position to the tie spacing and which undertest has demonstrated very high heating efiiciency. In this modifiedconstruction instead of forming the spaced resistance heating elementsby providing coiled sections in a continuous resistance and conductorwire, separable flattened, bar form resistance wires 18 are employed asthe resistance heating elements which are connected by wires orconductors 19 for completing the electrical connection. It isaccordingly intended in the appended claims that the termresistanceheating element shall be interpreted to include the forming ofthe heating elements in the form of coiled sections of a continuousresistance wire wherein the straight portions are essentially conductorsin function with a negligible heating value as well as the employment ofthe separable resistance elements as shown in Figs. 9 to 11.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A protective heating device for railway switch installationsincluding the ties, slide-plates and rails, consisting of a heatingmember secured to the rail in the switching space, said memberconsisting of a tubular casing, an electrical conductor positionedtherein and insulated from the Walls of the casing and formed withlongitudinally spaced resistance heating elements positioned tocorrespond to the normal tie spacing of the switch installation tolocalize the heat generation at points adjacent the slide plates.

2. An electrical resistance heating member adapted for the protection ofrailway switch installations comprising an elongated tubular casing, anelectrical conductor enclosed therein with insulating materialinterposed between the conductor and the inner wall of the casing, saidconductor being formed with longitudinally spaced resistance heatingelements positioned to correspond to the normal tie spacing for localconcentration of the heat.

3. An electrical resistance heating member adapted for the protection ofrailway switch installations comprising an elongated tubular casing, aresistance wire enclosed therein with powdered magnesia insulationbetween the wire and the inner wall of the casing, said wire beingformed with longitudinally spaced heating coil sections positioned tocorrespond to normal tie spacing for localizing the heat generation andsaid casing being formed with a flattened surface for contact with thesurface of the member to be heated thereby.

4. A protective heating device for railway switch installationsincluding the ties, slide-plates and rails, consisting of a heatingmember adapted to be secured to the rail in the switching space, saidmember consisting of an elongated tubular casing, an electricalconductor positioned within the casing and provided with a plurality ofresistance heating elements positioned to correspond to the normalspacing of the ties and said casing being formed with a flattened sidesurface positioned in engagement with the rail surface.

5. In a protective heating device for railway switch installationsincluding the track rails, movable switch points and slide platestherefor, a heating means consisting of a plurality of similar heatingmembers secured in contact with the rails, each of said membersconsisting of an elongated tubular casing, a conductor positionedthereinand insulated from the casing, said conductor being formed with aplurality of longitudinally spaced resistance heating elementspositioned to be in proximity to the slide plates and said members beingconnected in plural number and series arrangement to give a resistancevalue proportioned to the voltage of the circuit to which they areconnected.

6. An electrical resistance heating member adapted for the protection ofrailway switch installations comprising an elongated tubular casing, aplurality of conductors positioned to extend longitudinally through. thecasing in paralleled relation, each of said conductors being formed withsimilarly spaced and positioned resistance heating elementslongitudinally spaced to correspond to the normal tie spacing of aswitch installation.

comprising an elongated tubular casing, a plurality of resistanceheating elements enclosed within the casing in longitudinally spacedrelation corresponding to tie spacing and insulated from the casing. v

EBEN RAY PACKER.

the protection of railway switch installations;

